A Truly Haunted Halloween
by Trilobite
Summary: Karen, Will, and Jack get stuck at a haunted house during Halloween.


"You would be the one not to fire your driver and get us stuck here," Will muttered, glancing over at Karen.

Karen sighed, rolling her eyes as she glanced down the deserted road to where Driver was currently walking away from them, "It's not my fault, Wilma. He's the one who forgot to fill up with gas before we took off on this little trip, which, if you happened to forget, was your idea."

"I couldn't say no to Grace. She and Larry have spent the past week decorating his place for Halloween and have planned this party for longer than that," Will said.

"Well, don't blame me for something that is obviously your fault!" Karen shot back.

"Would the both of you shut up for five seconds?" Jack intervened, stepping between his two friends, who finally quieted with his outburst, "Now, listen to me. Driver is on his way to get gas for the limo and we're stuck here for now. I suggest we see what's in the house and entertain ourselves until he gets back and we can on our way to the party."

At his gesture, Will and Karen turned to look at a huge house they had seemed to overlooked during their arguing. There were no lights or cars parked in front of it to show anyone lived there and it looked to have been abandoned years ago. The three friends exchanged looks before heading slowly towards the intimidating house.

"Anyone else find it ironic that we're spending Halloween night at a haunted house? And I mean a real one, not the one Grace forced us to come to," Karen commented, staring at the front door with disdain.

"It's not haunted, Kare. We haven't even been inside yet," Jack said, shocked when he turned the doorknob and found the door unlocked. It creaked as he pushed it open and glanced around inside cautiously before stepping inside, Karen and Will close behind.

"You believe in ghosts, Karen? With all the hallucinations you have, I thought you would've been used to transparent people by now," Will said, poking Karen in the shoulder.

She jumped and gasped, nearly tripping as she ran to Jack's side and clung to his arm, glancing around wildly as Will simply smirked at her, "What the hell was that for? Are you purposely trying to give me a heart attack?"

"Could you two please leave each other alone and try acting like the human beings you really are? Let's just look around and see if we can find anything to do while we wait for Driver to return," Jack suggested, squinting to see Will in the darkness. He didn't need to see Karen to know she disagreed with him.

Will nodded, "Too bad I didn't bring my Ouija board. We could've had a wonderful Halloween night."

He stepped ahead of Jack and Karen and glanced around the darkened room before he finally grinned and headed to a nearby wall and flipped a switch, bathing the room in a light yellowish glow as an overhead chandelier came to life. With the newly found light, he was able to see they were in what looked like an entrance hall with a large staircase in front of them. An archway to the left looked like it led to a living room and to the right appeared to be a library.

"Creepy," Karen said softly, still holding onto Jack's arm in a light grip.

"It looks fairly modern, but as if no one has lived here for twenty years with the amount of dust and cobwebs around," Jack said.

"I don't know about you two, but I want to explore. It's not often you find places like this in New York," Will said, poking his head into the living room and looking around.

"Are we even in New York anymore?" Jack asked.

"That's how we ended up here; Driver got lost. I wouldn't be surprised if we were in Canada right now," Karen said sarcastically, finally venturing away from Jack to stand beside Will and peer into the living room.

"Why don't we head upstairs first? It looks like there's nothing down here anyway," Will said, heading for the staircase. He got to the third step before the wooden stairs creaked loudly at the added weight, "If I fall through, I'm suing."

"Great. You can be your own lawyer," Jack muttered, grabbing Karen's hand before following Will up the rest of the stairs, although he was silently praying he made it upstairs safely. At this point, he was just hoping he made it back home in one piece.

The stairway led to a long hallway that seemed to last forever with several doors on each side and paintings and mirrors on the walls. It was large and even though it would have been the envy of other people who would have seen it, it didn't affect the three people looking around, especially Karen, whose mansion overshadowed the entire house. The three looked puzzled until Will finally looked to the left, his eyes widening.

"The candles are lit," he finally said.

Karen and Jack followed his gaze and saw several candelabras mounted on the walls and lit, lighting the long hallway, although not very brightly. Jack eyed them oddly and walked down the hallway, his eyes narrowing as he neared one of them, trying to see if they were fake, but when he felt the heat of the small flames, he shrugged, looking back at Will.

"Maybe someone does live here. Let's see what these rooms are," he said.

Karen came towards him, the only sound being heard was her heels making dull thuds on the wooden floor. She reached for a doorknob and opened the door slowly, peering inside, "It's a bedroom."

Will and Jack looked inside, but stayed in the hallway as Karen stepped through the doorway and immediately set her sights on a large armoire in the corner. Will stepped back and tried the door behind him and Jack watched.

Karen watched for a moment before turning to Will to see what he found.

"This one appears to be a...well, maybe a guest bedroom? I have no idea really," Will said, laughing slightly.

"Hey, guys--"

Neither Jack nor Will had time to turn to Karen before the door slammed shut, closing Karen in the first bedroom they had found. They both paused, thinking Karen had closed the door herself, but when they heard her scream from inside, they rushed to the door, finding it locked.

"Kare, open the door!" Jack shouted, jiggling the knob in hopes it had just gotten stuck, but found he had no such luck.

"I can't! Oh my God, it's locked! It's locked!" Karen shouted back.

Jack looked back at Will and knew they had to try something; Karen had sounded desperate and neither had ever heard her sound so scared before.

"Try kicking the door," Jack said quickly.

Will took a few steps back and had a running start at the door before kicking it as hard as he could, but he only heard the lock rattle and nothing happened. He slammed his shoulder into the door, using all his strength, but the heavy wooden door was too strong for him.

"Karen, it's locked from the inside! Try moving the lock!" he shouted. He heard the rattle again, but not as loud, and he tried the doorknob, which didn't move.

"It doesn't work! It won't move!" Karen yelled, sounding panicked.

"Will, we have to do something. Is there another way into the room, Karen?" Jack asked. He paused for a moment, but didn't hear anything. "Karen!"

There were no further sounds from the room and Will and Jack listened carefully. They only waited for a few seconds before they heard an odd sound from the door.

Jack glanced over at Will, confused, "What was that?"

"If I'm not mistaken..." Will started, reaching for the knob again. This time, the knob turned and he pushed the door open, stepping inside quickly in case it decided to close again.

He immediately scanned the room and found Karen huddled in the corner of the room between the armoire and the wall with her knees pulled up against her chest. He started towards her, but she never looked up or even seemed to notice he was in the room.

"Karen?" he called, placing a hand on her shoulder.

She jumped, trying to move away from him as she finally looked up, she seemed to notice him for the first time. Will felt her immediately calm, but she was still tense and obviously frightened.

"What happened?" he asked.

Karen took a deep breath, trying to relax, but it didn't help, "I--I don't know. I turned to call for you two to come in here and I watched the door slam on its own and the deadbolt move to lock me in here." She paused, closing her eyes for a moment. "I saw a man. It was a ghost, Will, that I'm sure of. He had a...hat and trench coat on and didn't look familiar. He just seemed to watch me for a moment before he disappeared and then he touched me."

"Karen..." Jack trailed off, not sure of how to continue or how to ask what he really wanted to.

"No. I know what you're thinking, but you're wrong. He just...touched my arm and I just felt cold all over," Karen explained, shivering slightly at the thought.

Will helped Karen stand and made sure she was okay before turning back to Jack and beckoning him over with a finger. He waited until Jack was close enough to Karen before he stepped away and headed to the only window in the room, peering through the dirty glass. It overlooked a cemetary, which seemed to house a lout of people if the number of gravestones were any indication, but Will couldn't seem to feel shocked about that. What did shock him was the figure standing under a large willow tree. It was man with a hat and trench coat staring at him, but they shadowy figure disappeared after a few seconds, leaving no evidence of his presence behind.

"You don't believe me," Karen said suddenly.

Will turned to face her and saw she was watching him dejectedly. There was no trace of the anger he was sure was going to be present with her statement.

"No, I do believe you. I didn't, but I just saw that man outside and he disappeared," Will said plainly.

Jack looked between Will and Karen, trying to figure out if they were losing their minds or telling the truth. While it wasn't unlike Karen to pull a prank on him, he knew this wasn't a joke. Karen was truly scared, if the way she was gripping at Jack's hand was any indication.

"I haven't seen this...ghost yet, but both of you obviously have. Maybe we would be safer if we went back to the limo," Jack suggested.

"Good idea. It shouldn't be that long before Driver gets back with the gas," Will said, heading for the doorway. 

He stepped into the hallway and froze, looking down the hallway one way and then the other. "Oh my God."

"Can't remember which way we came from?" Jack teased, coming up behind him.

"No, I can remember, but there might be a problem with that," Will said.

Karen and Jack looked at him for a moment before stepping into the hallway and looking both ways, just as Will had. When they looked to the left, where they were sure they had come from, they gasped. Where the staircase they had come from used to be, there now stood a wall, looking as if it had been there the entire time.

"That's not possible. We came from that way," Karen said, looking behind her to the other side of the hallway, where a wall also blocked their path. "We're stuck up here."

Jack headed to the wall while Will and Karen went the other side to test if it really was a wall or just an illusion. Will pushed against the wall and even tried to looking for a trap door or anything before turning to a door next to him and opened it, stepping slightly inside, puzzled when he saw the room matched the library from downstairs exactly.

Karen sighed in frustration and turned to tell Jack they had no luck on their side, but noticed her friend was gone. She knew she hadn't heard any doors open and all of the doors along the wall were closed with the exception of the one Will entered.

"Jack?" She paused, listening for a reply. "Jack!"

"Karen, unless you want to attract every ghost in this place, I suggest you try to keep your shrieks to a minimum," Will called, making sure to keep one foot in the hallway.

"Jack is gone!" Karen yelled, ignoring Will.

Will turned and glanced down the hallway, getting nervous when he realized Jack was no longer there, "If we keep going like this, I'm the next one to disappear somewhere."

"I'd rather be anywhere than here right now. A public pool is even looking good right now," Karen muttered, squeaking when Will grabbed her hand and pulled her down the hallway where they had last seen Jack.

"How fast can you run in heels if you need to?" Will asked seriously.

"About as fast as you run from good taste," Karen shot back, rolling her eyes.

Will glared at her silently before trying to push on the wall, but just like the one across the hall, this one also didn't budge, "He wouldn't wander off without telling us. Well, he would, but not here. He knows the consequences of what could happen if we split up."

"Uh, Will, I think I may have to test the speed of my new Pradas," Karen whispered, moving so she was partially behind Will.

Will glanced back at her wide-eyed stare and followed her gaze to the same ghostly man, who was hovering in mid-air and floating towards them. He didn't waste any time in grabbing Karen and pulling her into the nearest room and slamming the door shut after them.

"I have a feeling he could get in if he really wanted to," Karen muttered as Will stood between the door and her protectively. 

They waited a few moments, and when nothing happened, Will finally turned and nearly wanted to bang his head into the wall, "Ah, fuck!"

They were back in the entry hall, looking at the staircase that led to the second floor.

"I've heard of fun houses, but this is ridiculous. How did we end up back down here?" Karen asked.

Will sighed and looked around, trying to come up with some sort of plan in his head. There was no plausible explanation of how they had ended up back on the first floor when they couldn't even find the stairs before. He had no doubt the house was haunted, but it didn't make sense. He was thankful for the fact that the ghost was gone, but he knew it would return sooner or later; it seemed to like Karen.

"Karen, did the ghost say anything to you in that bedroom?" he asked.

Karen looked up at him, pausing for a moment before nodding, "Yeah, at least, I think so. When he touched me, I heard whispering, like he was trying to talk to me, but I didn't understand any of it."

"No help," Will muttered, running a hand through his hair, "We're by the front door where we came in, but we can't leave because we have no clue where Jack is. I would like to think this is some sort of a joke, but I've seen too much to prove otherwise."

"If it's a joke, someone is doing a damn fine job," Karen replied, a hand planted on her hip as she looked around the area, even though they had already been there. "You know, before we went upstairs. Maybe if we went a different direction, we wouldn't get stuck."

"You know, that's not a bad idea. It wouldn't hurt to try it," Will said, heading towards the living room archway and carefully stepped around the outdated furniture, making sure Karen was following so he didn't lose her again. 

He spotted another archway and a light coming from the next room and he prayed it was Jack and not the ghost. He heard what he thought were pots and pans clanking and he stopped suddenly, feeling Karen slam into his back. He reached a hand back and grabbed hers, squeezing softly in a silent message to keep quiet, one he hoped she listened to. She didn't utter a sound and he mentally sighed in relief and stepped forward, pulling her with him. She stumbled slightly and landed hard on her heels, creating a dull thud on the wood below them and Will froze when he heard the noise from the room stop. Whoever was in there had heard them.

"Will," Karen whispered, clutching tightly to his hand, her eyes wide as she stared towards the room in front of them.

Will pulled Karen so she was directly behind him and hopefully out of harm's way before he turned and leaned down, placing his mouth beside her ear, "Walk very carefully so your heels don't make a sound."

She nodded, pushing her hair out of her face as Will started forward at a moderate pace, making sure to keep it slow and steady so Karen could find her footing without letting her heels come down too hard on the wooden floor. They passed through the archway and found themselves in a kitchen, where small candles lit the room, although dimly. They didn't see anyone, even though the way they came seemed to be the only way in or out of the kitchen.

"There's no one here," Karen breathed.

Will sighed, letting go of Karen and moving across the kitchen to look at two pots he was sure was the source of the noise, even though they were covered with dust and looked as if they hadn't been touched in years. He ran a finger over the pan and bit his bottom lip, losing hope they would ever find Jack in the house.

"There's someone here," Karen said softly, still in the same spot she was when Will had left her.

"Are you a walking contradiction of yourself?" Will asked sarcastically, looking around, but not seeing anyone.

"Will, I'm serious. I can feel a chill. It's so cold right here," Karen said, not looking at Will. Her gaze was fixed on the far wall of the kitchen, which was partially hidden by a china cabinet.

Will stepped closer and he could feel the temperature drop twenty degrees in the few feet he had walked. Puzzled, he reached for Karen and he felt the coldness of her bare arms. Upon his touch, goosebumps rose on her skin and she shivered, sending him a worried look over her shoulder. He rubbed his hands up and down her arms before she finally pulled away and headed back towards the living room, ignoring Will's quiet protests to keep quiet and stay where they were. As she rounded the corner and stepped into the next room, she screamed as someone grabbed her and wrapped an arm around her waist.

"Hey, hey, Kare, it's okay."

Karen froze and met Will's shocked glance across the dim room before she turned in the arms that held her and nearly jumped with joy at seeing Jack staring back at her. She threw her arms around his neck and briefly heard his yelp as she cut off his oxygen supply, but she was too happy at seeing him to notice much else.

"Jack, I'm very happy that we found you...or you found us, but could you please not scare Karen to death in the process?" Will asked, coming to stand beside his two friends.

"Honestly, I thought she was alone and I didn't want her to make a sound in case she was and attracted...something. Although her screaming really shot that idea down," Jack said, grinning down at Karen, who was glaring at him.

"That wasn't funny. I thought that ghost had come back for me," she pouted.

"What happened to you?" Will asked.

"I'm still not quite sure about that myself," Jack said, shrugging, "I was looking at the wall and tried to push it, something moved and I think I fell through the wall. I think it was a trap door, but I just remember falling and finding myself in a bedroom. There were stairs there that I took to get down here."

"This place is weird. It almost seems like a trick house with trap doors and dead ends, but with a ghost occupying it," Karen commented, looking around curiously.

"Guys, look," Will said suddenly, pointing to the front door, which stood completely open.

"It could be a trick. There have been enough of those tonight," Jack muttered, wrapping an arm around Karen. He exchanged a look with her before they looked to Will, silently asking what they should do.

"I can see my limo. I don't think this could be a trick. It wouldn't hurt to try to get out of here," Karen said.

Will shrugged, "It really wouldn't hurt to try. Karen, ladies first. If that door decides to close, I want you out of here."

Karen groaned and directed a glare in Will's direction before letting go of Jack's hand and stepping slowly towards the open front door. She glanced back at the two men behind her and reached a hand out, seeing if there really wasn't anything in the way or it was simply another illusion. When her hand was met with nothing but air, she gestured to her friends to join her, which they didn't hesitate in doing. In one single motion, they practically leapt through the door as if they had rehearsed it. They realized they didn't end up in another room in the house and were actually outside.

"We're not in the house. We made it out!" Jack said, grinning widely. He jumped slightly in happiness and grabbed his two best friends, pulling them into a tight hug and forcing them to bounce along with them.

"Jeez, Jack, I just had to run in these heels and now I have to bounce with you? They won't even last until we get to the party!" Karen whined, pushing Jack away from her and straightening her shirt.

"The party!" Will said, his eyes wide, "We have to get to the party. Is your driver back yet, Karen?"

Karen shrugged and cautiously walked around the limo so she could peer into the driver's side window, "Yes, he's asleep."

She came back down the side of the limo and opened the door, climbing inside, "Hey, Driver! Open your eyes and take us to the party!"

Will and Jack climbed into the limo beside her just as Driver started the engine and pulled back out onto the road.

"What exactly happened in that house?" Jack asked, breaking the silence that had started after they had been on the road for quite awhile.

"After everything happened, I have no doubt that place is haunted, but we made it out okay, so I'd suggest we don't think about it," Will said.

Karen gave a short, bitter laugh and turned to look at the dark landscape out of the window, "I won't be able to do anything but think about it. No amount of martinis or pills are going to make me forget what happened in there. I never actually thought there were such things as ghosts."

"But we were proved wrong," Jack said softly, wrapping an arm around Karen and pulling her closer before he noticed Will was holding her hand from the other side.

They fell silent once more as they focused on the passing trees as the limo sped down the road. 


End file.
